Disclaimer: This story is based on the characters created by Stephanie Meyer in the Twilight Saga. I do not own any of these characters.

Garrett

The breeze of the evening air cleared my head as I brushed the blood from my lips. I'd just tossed the body of my latest victim into the Santa Ana river, and was on my way back into the heart of the city. I'd find a pub, and if I got lucky, cause a riot before I headed out.

It had been nice to catch up with Makenna and Charles the last few weeks, but we were all ready to move on. The nightlife of Riverside, Cali was only interesting for so long.

I strolled through one of the parks along the side of the river and slowly made my way into the heart of the nightlife. It was still quiet as skipped across an alley on the outskirts of the city. And as I reared the corner the sweet scent of fresh blood wafted through my nose. My throat stung automatically, but it was easier to focus now that I was full.

My gaze shifted down the alley where I saw the delicate legs of a young woman sprawled out on the ground. Her body was blocked by a small stroller. And as I listened, I heard her soft voice comforting the whimpering child in the stroller.

I approached slowly, holding my breath to avoid the urge to attack. Even as I stood over the woman, she didn't notice me. Her eyes were half-focused and she was using whatever she had left in her to watch her baby, and comfort her.

I could see by the pool of blood under her that even if I could get her to a hospital, she would not survive what had happened. I couldn't see where she had been stabbed, but the blood seemed to be coming from somewhere on her back.

Her hand was shaking as she held on to the toddler's foot. "It's okay Isabella. It'll be okay." She whispered, as her eyes drooped. I looked to the baby who had tears in her eyes. For a child who couldn't be more than two, she was awfully quiet.

She watched her mother slowly slip away, and as the woman's hand dropped from her foot a small wail escaped from her throat.

I kneeled over her mother and checked for a pulse before I turned to the infant. Her tears eyes were focused on me, she sniffled but no more noise escaped. As she blinked more tears streamed down her face, and even though she looked sad, she was staring at me in wonder.

"Hey there doll," I crouched in front of her, all I got back were a few more sniffles. "Why don't we get you out of here?" I asked, she continued to stare.

I picked the stroller up, and with a last look at the woman, I moved back through the alley the way I came.

I took off running, trying to watch my speed in case it upset the baby. I didn't stop until we were deep into the San Bernardino National Forest.

When we were in a secluded enough area, I set the stroller down to find that the child had fallen asleep. I paused for a moment watching her before I searched the stroller for information on her mother, or anything that would help me know what to do with her.

There was no information card or contact info. The woman's purse was missing, I'd imagine from whoever had attacked her. The only thing I knew about this baby, was her name. As I looked through the contents of the stroller, I found snacks and a full cup of water, as well as a half full cup of a sticky juice of some kind. At least she would be able to eat until I figured things out.

I sat back on a stone and thought about what I had done, I should have just left the little one alone. Some human would have found her eventually and would have known what to do. Instead I played hero and took her, just to get her away from the image of her dying mother. She was probably too young to even understand what had just happened, and I felt that I needed to protect her from it anyway. I hissed out a low breath and stood up.

I paced the area and thought of all my options, I was hoping for information about her home so I could drop her back off there. Without that, there were still decent options. I knew I couldn't bring her back to where her mother had been attacked, but I could try to leave her at a hospital. At least they would know what steps to take next. I brushed a hand through my hair and the baby gurgled. I darted to her to find that she was awake.

It had been several hours and the light of the early morning sun was creeping through the forest. The child was watching me intently, she still didn't cry and I briefly wondered if there was something wrong with her. I'd never heard of a child with such an adult-like demeanor.

"You hungry little one?" I asked, she responded with a sheepish smile, and I dug through her stuff. I dumped some snacks onto the tiny tray in front of her and set the cup of water there too. She grabbed a handful of the snacks and stuffed them in her tiny mouth. Her eyes didn't move from me.

I sat back down in front of her, which earned me another smile as she continued to eat her snack. After a second she picked up the sippy cup and drank her water. I watched her, carrying on with her tiny human habits as the sun rose higher over the horizon. When she'd finished, the cup tipped off the tray and I caught it before it could really fall.

Her eyes twinkled and she giggled at how quickly I'd grabbed it. I returned her smile and handed her the cup back. She gripped it with her little fingers and shoved it away from her. Again I caught it making her giggle.

"Be careful, we don't want to break your things." I set the cup on the ground and grabbed a small rock, "This you can throw as much as you'd like." I said, handing it to her.

She took it, looking at it for a moment before tossing it to the ground. I let it get a few inches from the forest floor before I snagged it out of the air and held it back in front of her. The laugh I received in response was the most wholesome thing I'd ever heard. I couldn't help my smile.

We played like this for a few more minutes before she seemed to get fussy. I took her out of the stroller and set her feet on the ground, as soon as they made contact she took off running and I stepped after her, pulling her up in my arms. She giggled and I turned her around to face me, her laugh vanished until I smiled at her. I set her back down and chased her around the little clearing.

When she was tired she flopped down in the grass. I could hear the gurgling of her stomach and I knew it would be time to change her diaper soon. Until then I did what I could do distract her. We played with one of the toys she had tucked in her bag, and she threw a few more items at me. We briefly played hide and seek, and though she liked how quickly I could move, she didn't like when she couldn't see me, so that was short lived.

After her diaper change I sat with her as she pulled up grass and rocks from the ground. After a little while she looked up at me and her big brown eyes widened even bigger. I realized that the sun was now cascading through the trees, and this darling look she was giving me was in response to the light dancing over my skin.

Her hand reached up and I leaned in so she could touch my face. She touched the skin of my cheek softly and a big toothy smile spread across her face.

"Pretty pop!" She squealed. I placed my hand on hers and moved them to her face.

"Beautiful Isabella." I said, and her smile widened even more.

She sat staring and touching my face, and after a while her eyelids drooped. I stayed very still as she crawled into my arms and fell asleep.

I stood up steadily, with her in my arms and walked the edge of the clearing. As I walked I watched her peaceful face, she was a resilient one. And I realized that I was already too attached to this tiny human girl to be able to let her go.

As she slept I thought through all my next steps. I would need to find a proper place to live, somewhere north where I could go outside more during the day. I'd need to find a Library and read through some things on how to care for the little one. The hardest thing, would be the diet change.

I thought of Carlisle and his lifestyle. He'd talked to me before about how he lived and I had dismissed the idea. But now I had a reason to, Carlisle was able to blend in with humans because of his lifestyle. And in order to raise Isabella, I would need to be able to blend in.

I briefly thought of trying to get ahold of Carlisle, but I knew the situation I could be putting him in. I couldn't be in contact with any others of my kind until Isabella was old enough to be turned. I couldn't put her, or my friends in danger.

I turned back to the stroller, I needed to start heading north again. What the little one had with her wasn't going to last long. As I picked it up I sighed, this adventure would be my most challenging yet.